
	Platform PC, PS3, Xbox 360 Genre Role-Playing Publisher Electronic Arts Developer Bioware ETA November 2009
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Dragon Age: Origins

After recent stints in deep space, and the ancient far east, Bioware has decided to revisit the realm of medieval Europe inspired fantasy with their upcoming game, Dragon Age: Origins. Like so many of the developers RPGs to come before, this one will be filled with moral dilemmas, sophisticated combat, and plenty of quests for players to embark on.

Bioware has stated that the game’s plot will revolve around the fantasy genre, with players having the choice of a number of main characters to start out with when embarking on their journey. Each character comes from a different race, ranging from dwarves to humans to elves. Taking place in the world of Ferelden, players will take on the role of a newly enlisted Warden (a sort of paladin-like defence force), and find their land threatened by a massive orc-like horde referred to as The Blight. The developer has been quiet on details beyond this, but we expect to find out more about the various origin species players can become, and why these orcs want to destroy them.

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As in many of Bioware’s past RPGs, players will be presented with a number of moral dilemmas in Dragon Age. These can range from relationship issues, to how to deal with prisoners. While past games by the developer have been a bit more in your face as to how they go about implementing this, here things seem a lot

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more subtle. The choices come up naturally in conversations, and what a player chooses to do will impact how other NPCs act toward them later on.

Combat will be party-based, with players being able to switch between the various characters in their group to perform specific tasks when necessary. This has been pretty common to Bioware’s past RPGs, with the twist this time being that the user interface has an almost MMORPG quality to it. Basically, there are a selection of attacks, abilities, spells, and so forth along the bottom of the screen that players can choose from during battle. There are also some interesting mechanics being included in combat to heighten realism. For instance, spell casters must be careful of where they use area of effect spells, as they will inflict damage on fellow party members who happen to be in said area when it is cast. Also, players will be able to take cover during fights, ducking behind columns, debris, or whatever else happens to be around in order to protect themselves.

Bioware has yet to disappoint when it comes to creating new RPGs, so, as usual, there are high expectations for what to expect in Dragon Age: Origins. There won’t be too much more waiting, though, as the game is due out in November of this year.

Mr. Nash
September 14, 2009